'Stick to the plan'; that will have been the message that Pep Guardiola gave his Manchester City players in the days leading up to the biggest game of their season. He likely did the same during the match itself and, again, at half-time.
For the most part, the players did as asked. And then, in the dying moments of the second leg of the Champions League semi-final with City holding all the cards, they didn't.
City were not at their best all evening, but for 89 minutes it looked like that didn't matter. In the first half, they kept the ball well, perhaps not to their usual high standard but enough to prevent Real Madrid from having any real sniff at goal.
